Enjoying like Mr & Mrs Bill Gates

  Irrawady Cruise Bagan to Mandalay, Myanmar
Wednesday, April 11, 2007

From Bagan we took a boat up the Irrawaddy (Ayeyarwaddy) River to Mandalay. A boat trip on the Ayeyarwaddy is one of the highlights of any Burma trip, I guess, regardless what length or direction. We were told the upper part was with much prettier scenery, from Mandalay up to Bhamo on bigger boats, and even further on small boats to Mytkina.

Until shortly before our arrival to Burma it was not confirmed whether we could go on the Amara boat, our choice from pictures in the internet and also strongly recommended by Michael Pfeiffer, the travel agent. But finally we got the OK. Much too early we arrived at the pier, in fact just a path going down through dust and dirt to the river, where the boat was anchored close to the natural shore, no concrete pier. We went over the planks and they were pulled in; what about the other guests? Ah, we were the only passengers on board, great (!!!), and we had the entire ship and the service staff all for ourselves.

It was a great experience of luxury travel, see photos with us two on deck, all alone. It was like tasting the life style of billionaires, the Gates and such. The service was great, the food too, and we got the best cabin in front of the boat, sure, all other cabins were empty. Mr Smith, the waiter, did an excellent job, reading from our eyes. His English name for the guests is really "Mr Smith", no first name, Mister is perhaps his first name.

The shoreline is often sandy, sometimes steep, but never higher than 4 to 5 meters maximum. There was litle traffic, two small boats and a bigger one with clay pots, two heavily loaded with bamboo logs, once a heavy barge, but over all very few.

Htin Htin, our English speaking guide, informed about the program of the 1st day: lunch, and then 4 pm visit to a pottery village, i.e. a lot of time to relax. Lunch was great, Thai style egg plant salad, fish ginger soup, prawn & bell pepper curry with coconut milk, rice, broccoli, tomatoes, and moon cakes & coffee for dessert.


A first for us was the "kiln" in the pottery village, rather just a pile of 5000 pots with rice straw between the pots and on top, all covered with a dirt layer. They burn the entire pile and let it cool down afterwards, then they dig the pots out of the ashes. All the pots in the village have the same shape, but each family applies a different pattern. The patterns are hammered into the soft clay with a wooden mold. They are so quick and they place one pattern/logo next to the other without any overlapping; amazing.

The first evening we had to move during dinner from the deck to the Capta's lounge, as the first rain of the season just started. All the Burmese were so happy and all smiles. Considering the heat of 40 deg C during day, and no rain for 5 months, it's easy to imagine the pleasure the first rain brings to the people. After dinner, and after the rain, we went up on deck again and finished our bottle of white wine from Burma, quite OK but a bit overpriced with 20$, a monthly pay for a cleaner in a hotel. The night became quite cool, I even needed a T-shirt!!


On the 2nd day, we visited Myinmu town, with a 19th century monastery jointly paid by the British proconsul and the Burmese city mayor. Men unloading a boat, running with sacks up and down planks, women doing their laundry at the river, a goldsmith, kids, shops, small town life.

On the 2nd day evening and the 3rd day morning we went ashore to explore Inn Wha (Ava), also a former capital city, now a rural village. Interesting was the monastery completed in 1822, so different from the Bagan temples, surely with European influence, and a fort built under guidance of an Ing. Camotto of Italy against attacks from the river, or the lookout towr of the king, the large swimming pool of the princess, etc. All the way through Inn Wha we were brought by a horse carriage, as the distances were too far for walking (and completeing all in a day).


The 3rd day was rather short and we reached the mooring place of the Amara in Mandalay around noon time.

The boat was manoeuvered into the narrow gap and fixed, and after our departure fixed for the rainy season. Business was only to start again in October. The Amara had 2 crews, and one crew would always be on the boat even at shore during summer, because the time to get there was too long in case of a storm, and they needed to take care of the boat in stormy weather, as otherwise there may be big damage.

Htin Htin, the guide, organized a taxi for us to get to our Hotel. It was a pick up and I had to sit at the back, also a new experience, which I later (2008) repeated numerous times in Laos and Cambodia. The Rupar mandalar Hotel in Mandalay was a great place to stay, though a bit remote from the city center.